


What The Rain Brings

by Thief_of_Time



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, One Shot, nerdy dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 02:57:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5568154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thief_of_Time/pseuds/Thief_of_Time
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The rain brought more troublesome work for Cloud. But maybe this time, it'll bring something or someone special along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What The Rain Brings

It was raining outside. No, more like pouring. The unyielding torrent of water plummeted from the sky, drenching anything it touched. There seemed to be no escape, other than to go inside, which is what a majority of the people did. The rain had been rather unexpected as well. A pleasant sunny day one moment and a cold wet day the next, catching people unprepared as they hurried for shelter inside stores and other buildings until the rain stopped.

And unfortunately for one Cloud Strife, this meant the quiet little bookshop he worked at was unusually busy. Normally there was maybe one or two people in the shop with long quiet stretches where Cloud could sit and read for hours without being interrupted. Unfortunately today didn’t seem like that sort of day. There was maybe 20 other people in the shop, each of them tracking mud and water from the outside. And guess who the lucky bastard who would be cleaning it all up later was?

There was a soft tinkle of bells as the door opened, letting another cold gust of air rush inside. Cloud shivered slightly and rubbed his arms slightly in an attempt to keep warm. He couldn’t help but curse Tifa in his head for not letting him wear his sweater today. She’d claimed it would be too hot and that it needed a wash anyways. And so Cloud was stuck on a freezing cold rainy day with no sweater because of his amazing sister.

Cloud snuck towards the back end of the shop, hoping to avoid any customers, and to see if the back end was at least a little warmer than the front. He ducked into the teen fiction aisle, and began skimming through the titles for what seemed like the millionth time. Cloud had already read most of the books in the store, but Denzel had gotten sick and Marlene wanted to read to him. Unfortunately, while Denzel wanted something sci-fi, Marlene wanted fairy-tales, which lead to arguments. And so Tifa had “persuaded” Cloud to find some series that would satisfy both their needs.

He pulled out one of the newer novels and began skimming through it. That was when he heard the soft cry of excitement from behind him. Cloud turned to see a small girl, about Denzel’s age, staring up at him with a look of admiration and excitement behind thick glasses. He looked behind him to see if maybe there was someone famous that she could be looking at but there was no one there. She frantically waved for him to come closer so he knelt down to her level to hear what she had to say.

“Do you need something?” he asked.

The little girl shook her head and seemed suddenly nervous. She began fidgeting with the end of her shirt before whispering, “Are you a demigod?”

It took him a moment. Then it hit Cloud like a meteor. He was wearing his bright orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, a gift from Denzel who enjoyed the series as much as he did. There was no real dress code at the shop either other than to wear the lanyard with his ID on it. He looked at the little girl who was looking at him with so much expectation and hope in her and Cloud knew he couldn’t be the one to break her dream.

He smiled gently and nodded. The little girl’s eyes widened comically and a look of pure wonder appeared on her face. “But you have to keep it a secret,” he said in order to prevent any excited yelling.

The little girl nodded vigorously and made the motion of zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key. She looked around as if to make sure no one else was around to hear their conversation, then whispered, “Who’s your parent?”

Cloud had to think for a moment before replying. “I’m a son of Athena,” he told the girl.

She grinned excitedly. “Whoa! That’s so cool!”

Cloud could tell she was just bursting with questions. He didn’t mind too much. It sure beat helping other customers. Although technically she was a customer so he was doing his job. Sorta.

The little girl opened her mouth to most likely ask another question when an older female voice called, “Elena! Sweetie, it’s time to go!”

Cloud and Elena both turned to look towards the end of the aisle where an older woman who looked similar to Elena stood. Cloud stood back up as the little girl ran back towards her mother. She stopped once to wave goodbye in which Cloud returned the wave. As the Elena began chattering to her mother about her special discovery the woman caught Cloud’s eye and smiled as a thanks. Cloud couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on his face in return. Well that had been an interesting experience. Unfortunately, it was back to reality…

“You sure you aren’t a son of Aphrodite?”

The amused voice came from behind him, catching Cloud completely off guard. He jumped slightly and turned to see who on Gaia it was. Cloud swore his heart stopped for a second as he recognized who it was. _Oh shit. Goddess take the wheel._ Dressed in his normal punk styled attire albeit soaking wet, was Zack Fair. He worked at the motorbike repair shop Cloud frequented whenever he had an issue with his bike, Fenrir.

“Nah, I’m not good-looking or brainless enough to be one of them,” Cloud replied, in an attempt to act casual. “Besides I have no taste in fashion whatsoever.”

Zack laughed. “Brainless? Definitely not…” He stepped closer and smiled. “Good-looking? Definitely.”

Oh shit. What was he doing? “I’d have to disagree,” he managed, trying not to sound like a complete fool.

Zack was grinning now as he stepped closer again. There wasn’t much distance between them now. “Ah but you’re wrong. You read enough to have the brains, but I think your looks just might overpower that.”

“Oh really? Then who’s your parent, hotshot?” Cloud returned.

Zack smirked. “Son of Ares at your service.”

Cloud raised an eyebrow and hid his smile behind his hand, choking back laughter. “Son of Ares? Really?”

Zack’s smirk dropped. “What? What’s so funny?”

Cloud shook his head, the smile growing. “I dunno, I think you’re a little too nice for a son of Ares.”

Zack pouted slightly. “I can be intimidating too,” he whined slightly.

This time Cloud didn’t hide his laughter at the taller man. Zack seemed surprised for a moment but then grinned, putting Cloud on edge again. “What?” he asked nervously.

“Noooothing,” Zack said in a sing-song tone. “I was right, that’s all.”

Cloud furrowed his brow. “Right about what?”

Zack’s grin grew wider. “You are really cute when you laugh.”

His eyes widened and he coughed slightly. Him? Cute? Zack thought he was cute? Oh this had to be a dream. As he refocused, he was startled once again to see that Zack had gotten closer, and was looking at him with a mild concern and amusement. “You okay there, Spiky?” he asked.

“Spiky?”

Zack grinned again. “Yup! Cuz your hair is so spiky!” Zack played with one of the longer blonde spikes while Cloud stood frozen.

“Y-your hair is spiky as well,” he managed to reply.

Zack looked at him as if he was slow to understand. “Yeah but mine isn’t as spiky as yours. Yours is like… a chocobo!”

Cloud rolled his eyes. There was his favorite childhood nickname again. Chocobo-head. Although for some reason when Zack said it, it didn’t seem so bad.

“OI! CLOUD! GIT YER ASS UP HERE!”

They jumped at the overloud voice shouting from the front of the shop. Just like that the moment was broken. “Guess you better get back to work,” Zack chuckled, looking just a bit disappointed.

Cloud nodded. “Sorry. Guess I’ll see you later son of Ares,” he called as he started walking towards the front of the store.

“See you later son of Athena,” Zack returned, a large grin spread on his face.

Cloud’s manager gave him a lecture about shirking his duty before handing him a mop and telling him to clean up. And so Cloud went to work, still feeling a bit shell-shocked over what had happened. But a small smile was seen on his normally emotionless face and he seemed overall lighter like a great weight had lifted off his shoulders.

Of course, if a few hours later, when Cloud’s shift finally ended, there was a young man waiting on a motorcycle, it was only a coincidence, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Just a one-shot I wrote. Based off a real life interaction I had in a bookshop, although I didn't get a cute boyfriend out of it.


End file.
